The Best Mistake He Ever Made
by stuckbeingrachel
Summary: Anyone would look at a teenage parent and say that they had made a huge mistake, but as Jerome stared down at the baby, he knew that it was the best mistake he ever made. It's, surprisingly, not a Jara! It's just family with Jerome and a cute little baby! Hope y'all enjoy! This is for the lovers of Jerome Clarke and cute newborn babies! R&R! One-shot!


**I just had to write this! I love this oneshot! Enjoy, y'all!**

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Jerome Clarke paced anxiously outside the hospital room. Jane Sparks' cries of pain echoed past the white door and he nearly flinched. Her boyfriend wasn't doing a very good job of keeping her calm. Jerome should be in there holding her and telling her everything was going to be okay, he was the father. No. Within the nine months of the pregnancy, she was able to get a boyfriend that cared about her. But he didn't care one bit about the child that was being born that night.

Jerome's heart was racing wildly in his chest and his palms were sweaty. He wiped them on his black dress pants and ran them through his blonde hair. His brain was swarming with worried, angry, disappointed thoughts, but mostly thoughts of wanting to kill himself for being so stupid.

He was only sixteen; he can't have a baby at sixteen. It was an accident; a mistake. The kid wasn't even born out of love; it was because of a simple hook up at a party. That one night, changed everything, even before he knew it. He had known something was up as they laid there in the bed, catching their breath. It didn't seem right. Something felt off. And he was right. A week later, a Jane Sparks bumped into him at the mall and told him that she was pregnant. He didn't understand why she was telling him until he caught on that it was his.

Jerome didn't know whether Jane was going to keep the baby or not. He knew he wasn't going to keep it, though his best mate Alfie Lewis (he was the only one that Jerome had trusted to tell about the pregnancy) had tried to convince him. His life was nothing like the movies. He wouldn't hold the kid in his arms and fall in love with it in a second. He knew Jane wouldn't.

The entire time that she was pregnant, all she talked about was how to get rid of it—abortion, adoption? And as she thought about it, Jerome felt anger rising inside of him. He had helped create the life she was giving birth to that very minute, and she was calling the shots? No. Jerome Clarke wouldn't allow that. He told her straight to her face, that every decision that was to be made about their child would be negotiated between the two. And then, it had hit him. He was being protective of a child he hadn't even seen before.

He didn't even know the gender. She never let him tag along on the doctor appointments; she always took Richard Hemmingway with her, her stupid, snob of a boyfriend. **(A/N: If y'all could read the A/N at the end, that'd be great! I have a question for y'all!)**

Jerome shook his head. It was getting crowded and it was starting to hurt. But he couldn't just leave. Jane wanted him to leave and never come back, she expected it, and she knew he would. But he was going to prove her wrong. She wanted him gone so she could do what she wanted with the kid.

Jerome stopped pacing when he heard a newborn baby's cry come from the room. A few nurses left the room and then a doctor. Jerome pressed his thin lips together. He couldn't burst into the room and find out what his child looked like, whether she had any of his features or not. He'd look like he cared. And he would get in trouble with the nurses; they'd kick him out of the room.

But then he realized it. He did care. After hours of pacing through the clean hallways of the hospital, waiting for everything to be over, thinking over everything that had happened in the last nine months, he had grown to love the child. In only a couple of hours, he decided that he wanted to be a part of the newborn's life.

"Sweetie, you can come in now."

Jerome turned to the kind voice of the small nurse and he smiled nicely, with a nod in thank you. He slid past her and peeked into the room. Jane looked away from Richard and gave a small smile. Her brown hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and her brown eyes watched him emotionlessly. Richard's brown hair was messy and his green eyes filled with envy and hatred when he saw Jerome walk in.

"Honey, would you like to hold her?" another nurse asked him, laying a comforting hand on his arm.

"Her" meant a girl—a little baby girl? Jerome's heart picked up it's already fast pace. He had a daughter.

He nodded at the nurse and broke eye contact with Jane and her fiancé. He held babies before. His sister Poppy, his cousin Louisa, his other cousin Mark; he could hold his own daughter. But he was still slightly shaky. The nurse, Ann, handed him the small baby and he supported her head, hand wrapping around her waist, holding her close to his chest. He walked away from the others and to the window in the room; the dim lighting of the small lights wasn't enough for him to see his daughter clearly.

The word daughter echoed in his mind. He was a sixteen year old father of a little girl.

To his surprise, girl names started rushing through his foggy brain. He didn't know who would name her but he hoped it'd be him. She had light hair and pale skin; he was very surprised and happy about that. She was going to look like him. He gently blew on her small, chubby face and smiled when her nose crinkled and a little toothless smile appeared on her lips. Her eyes fluttered open and looked up at him with blurry vision.

Blue. She had blue eyes. Jerome didn't even try to bite back the grin now playing on his lips. Her eyes matched his exactly. Her arm came up and her tiny hand fisted, coming down on his chest, unclasping to grip the v-neck collar of his blue sweater. He kissed her forehead quickly and turned back to the nurse, handing his daughter over to her, reluctantly. The baby's hand held her clutch on his collar and he gently pried her hand away with a small smile.

"What is her name going to be?" another nurse asked, tapping a purple pen on a clipboard she held.

"Jerome, you can name her if you'd like since I'll have custody of her." Jane spoke up.

"Wait, what?" Jerome's head snapped around to stare at the baby's mother in disbelief. "Jane, we agreed that we'd share the responsibilities and decisions when it came to the baby."

"You're still in school, Jerome, you can't take care of her." the brunette pointed out.

"What about during the summer? I can take her then. I want to be a part of my own daughter's life." God, he loved saying that.

"Name?" she nurse tried to get their attention, feeling awkward standing in the room at that moment.

"Jerome, name the child, we'll discuss this later." Richard ordered him.

Jerome gritted his teeth, and though he didn't want to listen to the older man, he wanted to name his baby. He looked down at her for a moment and then a name popped into his mind, the perfect name, and it sounded great with his last name.

"Alice Mae." He said. He spelled it out the way he wanted it spelled and the nurse nodded.

"Last name?" she asked.

"Clarke." Jerome stated as Jane said 'Sparks'.

"Jerome, I'll have her more often than you will, her name will be Sparks." Jane glowered at him.

"No, I want it to be Clarke. It sounds better with Clarke."

"What about Sparks-Clarke or Clarke-Sparks?" the nurse suggested, only then, realizing how terrible the names sounded together.

"No." Jerome and Jane said simultaneously, and then turning to glare at each other.

Anyone could see that they didn't like each other. Through the pregnancy, they discovered that they had nothing in common and that they were completely incompatible. Jerome's jaw tightened and Jane's tanned face went red while Richard clenched his fists.

"I'll let the last name slide, if you let me have her during the summer." Jerome sighed, struggling to keep his temper.

Jane thought about it for a moment. It's not like she cared about it. She never wanted to have the child, but Jerome had told her to keep it, and her mother had been ecstatic, regardless of the fact that the baby had been conceived between two complete strangers at a party. She wanted to have children but not so soon, and with Richard, certainly not Jerome Clarke.

Finally, she nodded with a huff and Jerome ran a hand over his face, mumbling a thank you.

"Okay, that's all. Um, you know you'll have to legally split the custody?" the nurse pointed out and the parents nodded. "Alright, have a nice day."

Jerome nodded a good-bye to the couple in the hospital bed and kissed Alice on the cheek quickly, stepping out of the room. He heard Richard mumble something about Alice being the biggest mistake of both of their lives and Jane agreeing, but Jerome just shook his head with a smile, heading down the corridor to the elevator. Alice Mae Sparks. No, Alice Mae Clarke was her name. His daughter, the little thing that change his entire perspective on babies, she wasn't his biggest mistake.

She was the best mistake he ever made.

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**That's it! I loved that idea! Now, that question. I wanted to know if y'all think I should make a multi-chapter about Jerome taking care of Alice and then eventually, telling his friends about her. Would you guys read something like that? **

**REVIEW!**

***VOTE THE POLL FOR A NEW FIC THAT I'LL WRITE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS THAT HAVE THE MOST VOTES!***

**Don't worry, I'm working on HOC, CATOG and Bad Boy Babysitter! It's been a while since we've entered the world of Eddie Sweet babysitting Patricia Williamson! :D**

_**For His anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. -Psalm 30:5**_

**-Rachel**


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